8 Trainers Share What Finally Helped Them Lose Weight And Get In Shape

Your best bod is just around the corner.

On the surface, losing weight seems simple enough: burn more calories than you consume. But making it happen can be a tricky business, which is why so many of us turn to personal trainers to get a jump on the pounds-shedding process.

Trainers are inspiring for so many reasons—they’re already in great shape, for one. They’re also armed with a crazy amount of knowledge to help you find the exact workout strategies that work for your body and lifestyle. Some have even battled the bulge themselves, and know firsthand what it’s like to not only lose weight, but keep those pesky pounds from returning.

Here, eight top-notch trainers share what it took for them to finally achieve their best bodies:

Photograph courtesy of KK Hart

“I Created My Own Rules”

“I initially chose to make health and wellness changes because of unforeseen food allergies, and struggled to stay compliant for the first few years until I got my ‘fit’ together through consistency, perseverance, and accountability. The three principles I use today, training thousands of people all around the globe, are the three principles I started my own personal journey with. I call them the three Fs:

“Fun: The best exercise you can do isn’t the hardest one, but the one you’ll do most consistently. For me, that meant giving up running—which I hated and was causing me to injure constantly—and trying non-traditional exercises, such as pole dance and aerial fitness. I couldn’t believe it, but my body responded better to that than any boring gym routine, and I’ve been dancing my way fit ever since! (Dance YOUR way fit with High-Intensity Dance Cardio, the first-ever socanomics DVD!)

“Functional: Do what is needed for your body type, background, and pre-dispositions. For me, that meant dairy and gluten needed to be completely avoided. Sure, I would’ve loved to finish off my day with a bowl of pasta and some ice cream, but it wasn’t worth getting sick and not being able to enjoy other parts of my life. The same was true for my workout regimen—as I got older, I knew my body needed me to be more than a self-proclaimed cardio queen, so I became more balanced in my exercises, adding in bodyweight-strengthening exercises and Pilates-based workouts to start. My body became leaner, and it was easy for me to vary my workout and get the same results I was getting in my younger years.

“Flexible: We must be able and willing to accept change, pivot when needed, and try new things. I believe my transformation was so dramatic and long-lasting because I didn’t follow all of the rules and fads out there. Instead, I allowed myself to grow and evolve. Cross-training became my workout standard, which kept me injury-free and helped me sculpt the more difficult parts of my body (such as my core). I also found that by trying new foods and substitutes for the things I could no longer eat, I stopped craving the unhealthy stuff and found new favorite foods that kept me looking and feeling good for a lot longer.” —KK Hart, fitness expert, instructor, and studio owner

“I first started going to the gym when I began to lose weight, and honestly, I was too embarrassed to use the machines because I had no idea what I was doing on them. I started taking group classes, like Zumba, step, and cycle, and found that it was much more fun to work out with a group than by yourself—I learned what kind of exercise worked best for me and it became a passion of mine. I also have a spreadsheet that I log all of my training and class exercises in so I can look back to a month ago and see how far I’ve come.

“While the weight loss is the most noticeable difference in my journey, exercise has improved me mentally just as much. I suffered from depression, and once I started exercising every day, eating healthy, and feeling good, it just went away. For anyone just starting on her path to a healthier lifestyle, don’t be discouraged! It takes time to start seeing results—you didn’t gain weight overnight, so you have to remember that you’re not going to lose it overnight, either.” —Linda Pyeatt, Youfit Health Clubs YouGX group exercise instructor

Here's a 3-minute indoor cycling class arm workout you can try at home:

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“At 25, my scale tipped over 250 pounds. I tried working out six times per week—high intensity, sprints, cardio, you name it—while following a low-calorie diet, but this approach didn’t work. It wasn’t until I changed the way I ate that I started seeing results. When we restrict calories, our body thinks that we’re in food scarcity and the body’s defense mechanism decreases our ability to burn fat. Understanding that we need to eat enough food so that our body can burn fat with ease is the biggest challenge, but can also lead to the biggest breakthrough. You can’t outwork a bad diet.” —Nikola Bugarin, weight-loss expert, certified fitness and nutrition coach

“I went through 15 years of yo-yo dieting, and much of what held me back from losing weight revolved around extreme food restrictions. Inconsistent eating habits inevitably led to an on-and-off relationship with exercise—it was hard to be consistent because my energy was either too low from not eating enough or from overeating foods that made me feel ill. Even when I worked with a personal trainer and counted every single calorie and logged it for him, he called me a liar. It was demoralizing and set me back for a while.

“After sulking for a bit, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I realized I was punishing myself with food and exercise, so I decided to look at both differently and nourish my body instead of punish it. I prioritized veggies, protein, and water, and let the fats and carbs round out meals. I stopped counting, logging, tracking, and weighing. I slowed down while eating and made sure to actually taste what went into my mouth.

“I didn’t trust myself to not overeat the foods that used to be forbidden, but it was important to rebuild that trust if I wanted to actually make a lifelong change. I started small with taking a bite or two, only right after a meal. This helped me to still have what I used to consider ‘bad’ foods, but I wasn’t starving for them. As I regained that trust, I naturally had less desire for them—they were no longer a nemesis and didn’t call my name. Now, I can enjoy dessert on any given night and it doesn’t send me into a spiral of self-loathing where I abandon any notion of healthy eating. Instead of focusing on what most say I shouldn’t have, I look at nourishing my body with nutrient-dense foods more often than not, which automatically doesn’t leave much room for the unhealthy stuff.

“The same goes for exercise—I adopted the mindset of celebrating what my body could do and enjoyed watching it grow stronger, instead of using it to exercise away any food transgressions. I also exercise according to how my body feels. Some days, I may go for a long walk, while others I’ll enjoy a 20-minute metabolic-conditioning circuit. Still others, I may only do gentle stretches. Exercising to lose fat doesn’t always have to be structured or brutal.

“The way we approach food and exercise all starts in the mind. When I changed how I viewed them and adopted a more compassionate method, the daily choices became so much easier.” —Julie Stubblefield, fitness coach and founder of Fit Mom Revolution

Photograph courtesy of Christine Adams

“I Hired A Personal Trainer”

“As a 34-year-old single mom, the last thing I needed was to have my son grow up with an unhealthy parent. I tried all the quick fixes—cutting carbs, silly exercise equipment, crazy supplements that promised to take the weight off in no time. The equipment was more useful as a means to dry laundry, and the supplements did nothing at all.

“Before becoming one myself, I hired a personal trainer to get a jumpstart on leading a healthier lifestyle. I learned that finding out your metabolic rate and body fat percentage is key in determining how many calories you should be taking in. To lose a pound of fat, you need to be in a deficit of 3,500 calories by the end of the week. It sounds like a lot, but having a professional make the right meal plan for you and prescribe the right supplementation to fuel your body through workouts and recovery can make all the difference. Nutrition is about 85 percent of your success. After all, it’s what we put in our bodies that gets us into trouble in the first place.” —Christine Adams, personal trainer at The Edge Fitness Clubs

Photograph courtesy of De Bolton

“I Ran-Walked The Rugged Maniac”

“In 2015, I participated in the Rugged Maniac obstacle run at 205 pounds. I’m only 5’3”, so I was overweight, disappointed, and discouraged as I walked the entire race and bypassed several obstacles. It took two weeks to recover, and at the end of those two weeks, I decided that I was going to run the race again, but never at that size. I started out on a mission to get skinny, which then turned into a full-blown passion to be healthy.

“Two years later, I ran another mud run—the Half Tough Mudder. Rather than leaving discouraged, I left in tears because I had run every mile and tackled every obstacle, and found a passion I would’ve never known had it not been for my own personal weight-loss journey. The experience taught me how important it is to start from where you are now, and gradually work your way up to your goal. You may not be able to do it today, but if you keep at it with no time limit, I guarantee you will. A home-cooked meal takes time to prepare, but it tastes better and is better for you—the same can be said about gradual weight loss.

“No one is perfect, and we all have our own timeline. If you fall, fail, or mess up; stand up, try again, and learn from it. But never give up, because with effort comes results.” —De Bolton, certified personal trainer and sports fitness specialist

“After struggling with weight gain and compulsive overeating from puberty on, I couldn’t help but feel as though something was deeply wrong with me. For most of my life, I heavily blamed myself for my weight issues—and while it is true that we, alone, can control our eating habits, it is also true that the obesity puzzle is much more complex than that. Our bodies are incredibly complex and the foods we eat, especially sugar-laden and other highly-palatable foods, heavily impact our cravings, energy, mood, and fat storage. There are also so many genetic, social, and societal factors at play that all impact us on a day-to-day basis.

“While that doesn’t mean we have to abdicate our personal responsibility in the weight-balancing game, truly understanding how these factors were impacting me helped me to stop blaming myself and work with my body rather than against it. When I finally learned how good my body could feel, what foods made me thrive and which made me feel awful, and how to navigate social situations and pressures in a loving way, I was able to make peace with my body, and more importantly, my mind and self-talk.

“For me, I discovered that abstinence from sugar was crucial for managing compulsive eating, and that stabilizing my blood sugar with balanced meals and snacks throughout the day was the key to fewer cravings, improved moods, increased energy, weight loss, and a general sense of wellbeing that I love to call ‘vibing.’

“As a previously obese individual, I know that my risk of regaining lost weight is high and vigilance and early-intervention strategies are key, such as weighing myself regularly. But I also know that the number on the scale doesn’t define who I am as a person or my worthiness—it is simply a number that helps me calibrate how attentive I am in maintaining my weight loss.

“Of course, the scale doesn’t always tell the full story, so I also make sure to check in regularly with all the factorials, including body fat percentage, body measurements, how my clothes feel, how my eating habits and exercise have been going, as well as my self-care habits. Weight maintenance is truly an act of mindfulness and constant checking in. For me, having as much data as possible has helped me recalibrate in a self-loving way when needed.” —Jennifer Lesyna Anthony, weight loss and lifestyle coach

Photograph courtesy of Kelly Mreen

“I Set Emotional Goals Instead of Physical Ones”

“I grew up in a healthy and highly-active family. I was always busy dancing, swimming, and even played competitive tennis through high school and college. After college, I continued to stay active, running daily—including putting a marathon and a few mini-triathlons under my belt. But when I got into my thirties, I lost my love for it all. My hips started to bother me and I went down a path of being inactive.

“I was so involved with my family and raising kids that I just stopped taking care of myself. Thirty-five pounds and some eye-opening photos later, I knew I had to make a change. I tried everything from Pilates to yoga, and decided to try indoor cycling. During my very first class, I was in the very back of the class and could barely finish. I was so out of shape and pretty much sat the whole time, but it woke something back up in my heart and mind that kept me coming back.

“I loved the loud music, the community—it was sweaty and challenging. I worked hard to move to the front row, then auditioned to be an instructor, and now I actually co-own my own studio. My ultimate goal was to feel more confident and comfortable in my own skin; the weight loss was a bonus. I became a better version of myself, not because I lost weight, but because I gained confidence that I could accomplish my goals, and found an outlet for self-love and inner strength.

“I regularly see clients who are just like me—they haven’t worked out in a while, they’re nervous and scared, and I just remind them: Take your time and do it at your own pace, because it’s all for you.” —Kelly Mreen, co-owner of StarCycle in Happy Valley, Oregon

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